The service industry in Nantong saw a year-on-year growth of 29.5 percent in taxable sales revenue during the first quarter of this year, reaching 340.75 billion yuan ($52.62 billion), according to the city's development and reform commission.

Statistics show that the added value of the service industry was 124.62 billion yuan in Q1, up 17.5 percent year-on-year.

During this period, the Nantong Port handled 463,000 containers, representing a year-on-year increase of 27.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the service outsourcing sector completed a combined contract value of $1.94 billion yuan, up 101.3 percent.

In addition, a total of 16 service industry projects were recognized as provincial-level key projects during this period. 

Key projects at the municipal and provincial levels received a combined 9.02 billion yuan in investment in the first three months, up 24.6 percent and 6.7 percentage points higher than investment in fixed assets.

From January to April, 86 service companies above designated size registered in Nantong, more than any other city in Jiangsu province and accounting for 86.9 percent of the provincial total.

From January to February, service companies above designated size generated 17.56 billion yuan in revenue, up 49.8 percent year-on-year and 2.9 percentage points higher than the provincial average.

Powered by a series of promotional events, retail sales of consumer goods increased 40.3 percent during Q1, generating 98.95 billion yuan and ranking third in Jiangsu. The growth rate was 1.2 percentage points higher than the provincial average.

During this period, the city received 11.96 million tourists, up 30.1 percent year-on-year. The total revenue of the tourism sector increased 28.7 percent to 19.89 billion yuan.